The Will of a Musician
by Aeiya Mei
Summary: Four years before Ace joined the Whitebeards, their musician fell ill. She lives on the ship, kept alive by machines and medicines, isolated from nearly the entire crew, her family, most of who think she's close to death. Yet no amount of medicine can secure her life. That depends on her will. The will of a musician. MarcoXOC
1. Chapter 1

The will of a musician

Summary: Four years before Ace joined the Whitebeards, their musician fell ill. She lives on the ship, kept alive by machines and medicines, isolated from nearly the entire crew, her family, most of who think she's close to death. Yet no amount of medicine can secure her life. Thatdepends on her will. The will of a musician. MarcoXOC

(1) You can just imagine Whitebeard wanting to protect his daughters like an overprotective daddy XD

Guys, by the way I wrote some of this after doing my English language exam, so some of the wording might be a bit... weird XD

CHAPTER 1: OPENING

Twas a night like any other. The Whitebeard crew were gathered on deck, under the clear night sky, enjoying the food, drink and company of their crewmates. The great captain, Edward Newgate, Whitebeard, watched his son's and daughter's laugh and dance around. Feeling happy and content with his family, he turned to his side where Marco, his son and first division commander, sat quietly drinking his own beverage.

"Marco! Why aren't you out there enjoying the night? Can't be much fun sat with yer' old man."

"Hmm..." Marco didn't really answer, his eyes focused on the corner of the deck, where the big piano had been brought out and was being happily played. "It's not as rowdy over here. Besides do I need an excuse to sit with you, pops?" He added with a small grin, still watching the corner.

"So what's caught your eye? You've been staring at that old piano for a while now."

"Nah, it's not the piano that he's interested in." Thatch, who by now very tipsy from the drinking contests he had managed to get himself into with some of the crew, intervened.

"It's the person playing it!" Thatch crooned, seeming to think that it was one of the best jokes he had ever heard. Smacking Marco on the back he threw one last comment over his shoulder before leaving to get even more wasted, laughing loudly all the while.

"Look's like its mating season for the flaming turkeys!"

The blonde pirate just sighed. He was actually impressed that Thatch wasn't passed out already, or slurring his words together until you could barely tell what he's going on about. But Thatch did have one point... The one playing the cheerful melodies on that old piano was the main focus of Marco's attention.

"So what's this about you and little Rikku?" Pop's asked in his usual loud, boisterous voice, grapping the attention of a few other crewmates. Sighing and simultaneously cursing Thatch for his oversized mouth, he replied to his captain.

"There's nothing between Rikku and I."

The captain laughed again, sending small vibrations through the barrel Marco was sat on, and leaving a light ring in his ears for a few moments.

"S'not what it looks like from-"

"POPS!"

The shout from the far corner of the deck made Marco's head snap over, he quickly took in the slumped form Rikku, who was being gently held up by one of the other musicians who had good reflexes, his violin abandoned on the wooden floor. Before even 10 seconds had passed, the mythical zoan user was leaned over her, searching her body for any injuries that could have caused this.

The captain was calling for the nurses and doctors to attend to her, worried that one of his daughters (which he protected slightly more than his sons **(1)**) was injured and slumped over without any indication of wounds or illnesses to speak of. The head doctor, followed by a few others helped get her gently into the infirmary. Marco looked at his captain, asking without words to follow her. And with a slight nod from the large captain, the blonde commander walked briskly toward the door which the woman of his thoughts had just disappeared through. Throwing the wooden door open, he looked around, eyes quickly scanning the few doors that were in this particular corridor. Finding the correct door to the doctor's emergency quarters, Marco sat on the floor outside and waited.

-The-will-of-a-musician-

He wasn't sure how long he was waiting for the door to open. No-one had come to bother him, so he was left alone with his thoughts. Not a situation he was particularly happy with. After all, thinking involved imagination. And his imagination taunted him with images of Rikku, sweet, kind Rikku, laid flat on a gurney, face pale and lips blue, her once merry eyes dull with death.

Staring up at the wooden ceiling, he wondered why he cared so much. Yes, he loved all his crewmates, though some more than others at times *CoughThatchCough*, but he would usually trust in the doctors to keep them alive. He wondered why Rikku was different. Why was she important enough that he had to see her for himself? Why did her smile make him choke? Why was it that all he wanted to do was hold her close and never ever let her go?

Running his hand through blonde locks, he leaned back on the wall. Telling Whitebeard that there wasn't anything going on between the two was the complete truth. As far as the phoenix knew, his feelings were one-sided, and were going to stay that way.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the door opened. The head doctor, a tall and muscular man with old yet kind eyes, came forward, into the view of Marco, who immediately sprung up to ask him about Rikku's condition. Opening his mouth, the doctor seemed to pause in what he was about to say, breathing out again and closing his mouth; he just bowed his head to the blonde man and gestured inside the room. The beeping of a machine and some slight rustle of the nurses moving things around was the only thing that could be heard. Giving Marco one last look, he walked back to the medical offices.

Dread curdled in his stomach, making his head swim with worry and anticipation of what lay inside the room. He didn't move from his spot, his imagination fuelling the ever growing pit of worry. Suddenly, the cold, white image of Rikku, eyes dulled with the cold hands of death seemed so much more real, more possible then he could stand to think.

Swallowing his thoughts he turned to the door, breathing slowly he stretched his has over to the knob, twisting it and pulling it open, he was greeted with the sight of Rikku.

END CHAPTER 1

**So? What do you think? Like my other stories it's from the top of my head, but I quite like it! Please leave a review to tell me what you thought; they give me the inspiration to write! **

**Have a good day everyone!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Oh wow! I actually have some reviews for this! :D I'm so happy! And is it bad that I have no idea where this is going...? And to the reviewers:**

**xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :D Thanks for reviewing!**

**cici: I'm guessing you're talking about Rikku? Well I'm happy that you like her, and she's quite the character (even though she's not fully developed)! But thanks so much for telling me your thoughts, and I will definitely continue. **

**AliceLaw: Thank you for the review! And I know that I'm going a little fast, but i'm not the best writer and I'm finding it hard to do some things (Like keeping it in the same tense and point of view). But I hope this chapter will answer some of your questions, as for the relationship with Marco, Marco knows she cares about him, but doesn't think she likes him anymore then a friend. And they are kind of like best/close friends at the moment. **

**I forgot to put this in the previous chapter, sorry!**

**Disclaimer: One piece is the sole property of its creators and their team; I don't hold any claim over it.**

**Now onward to the chapter!**

CHAPTER 2

_Last time:_

_Swallowing his thoughts he turned to the door, breathing slowly he stretched his has over to the knob, twisting it and pulling it open, he was greeted with the sight of Rikku._

_Now:_

Skin as white as the ivory her fingers danced across, hinted with gray and glazed with sweat, was the sight that Marco was greeted with upon his arrival into the room. His throat constricted with emotion and he barely registered the door closing behind him as he slowly advanced towards the woman. She was still. The only indication of living being the rise and fall of her chest, and the shallow, rough sound of breathing that seemed to echo through his head. Reaching her side, he reached out and brushed his shaking fingers over her cold skin with a feather light weight, but still, she shuddered slightly and her eyelids flickered.

"D-doctor...?" She whispered; pain evident in her voice.

Freezing for a second Marco tried to collect his thoughts long enough to answer. Swallowing the lump that has accumulated in his throat, he answered her.

"It's me...Marco... I came to see how you're doing..." He was lost on what else to say; luckily he was saved from talking more as she wrenched her eyelids open, revealing her beautiful eyes. Marco gazed into them mesmerised momentarily by the kaleidoscope of colour that was revealed. The electric blue orbs seemed to shift, flicks of silver danced through the blue, before shifting again and being replaced by flecks of azure, or another shade of the sea, the only stand-still being the dark indigo ring around the iris. But right now they held were clouded with pain and disorientation.

"Mar...co..." She whispered, before a small, tired smile inched it way across her face.

"Thank you for coming to see me... I'm afraid I can't get up to see you properly... I'm a little... tied up." She tried to joke but the flash of pain that shot through her eyes made the effort all the more hollow. She had moved her arms when she spoke, which must have caused the pain she was in. Looking down he was shocked at oblivious to it he was when he first came in. Different coloured wired were all inserted into her delicate frame; tubes containing a clear medicine adorned her arms, and three others, a red, blue and green, were connected into her chest, right above her heart. In this condition she looked smaller, more vulnerable, and more _breakable._

Pausing momentarily, he swept his gaze back to her face, watching her expression.

"Are you feeling... better?" He asked hesitantly, inwardly feeling angry at how stupid the question was, and of course she was going to answer the same way she always does when people ask her that question.

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about!" Coughing roughly she continued, ignoring the obvious sign that she was definitely not 'fine'. "I'll be back before you know it, not reason to look so worried."

Marco just sighed. She could be a real piece of work sometimes. She never let on when she felt ill, or let others help. Which might have gotten in her in this situation, he mused.

"You should have something, we could have caught whatever this is sooner, and you wouldn't be in this much pain-"

"It's inevitable either way."

"...What do you mean?" Marco was confused by her words. Inevitable?

"I mean I didn't feel sick at all." Seeing the look on his face, she smiled again. "I really mean it. We couldn't avoid this storm, Marco."

"But still-"

The door swung open, allowing one of the doctors through, followed by the head doctor and a nurse. The nurse came towards Marco, while the other two went over to the other end of the room, where a large cabinet used for storing medical supplies sat.

"Commander Marco." She greeted the blonde with a small bow of her head, confusing him momentarily, most of the crew just called him Marco, unless in battle, to show the opposition the position and therefore power of the commander, or in something important. This nurse, Sandy, was one of the older ones and he had known her for a long time.

"I'm sorry, but I must ask you to leave."

"And why is that?" Looking over at the doctors that were shuffling through cabinets, and bringing out weird instruments and bottles, he frowned. What were they going to do that needed so many things?

"I can't tell you that commander, and you know I can't." Her stern gaze bore into Marcos, but softened when she saw the pure worry reflected back at her.

"I don't think it's very serious, but we need to thoroughly and hourly check and test her. Plus we need to confirm some suspicions we have. She's quite delicate right now, which will make her recovery harder, but we'll do our best."

Marco only nodded, eyes trained on the bed again where only a head of light brown locks could be seen, due to one of the doctors stood in his view. He couldn't really argue to stay, and if anything he could do, even just staying in a certain place would make her recover faster, then he would do it in a heartbeat. So he complied with Sandy's wishes and left the room, sparing Rikku one last glance before the door swung shut.

-Will-of-a-Musician-

The crew of the great whitebeard, plus the big man himself, were hanging around on the main deck, the exceptions being the cooks, the doctors and the main shipwrights who were working down below. Some of the lightweights were still nursing headaches from last night, and the ones who managed to stay somewhat sober were laughing at their grumpy, pained expressions. Marco wondered over to where Whitebeard was and sat on a wooden box besides him, staring out onto the morning horizon. He was momentarily startled by how long he had been outside her room, and he was finding it hard to think with the lack of sleep from missing a night.

"Marco." His captain rumbled lowly. Looking up at the large man, he continued. "Don't dwell on the future; I'll only bring more heartache. And I don't believe she would want you to live like that." The wise words washed over Marco, like a cool breeze on a hot summer's day, clearing his mind enough to think properly. Without a word he stood and did his job as 1st commander, ignoring the looks he got from those who knew about his... predicament. As the day wore on he kept his tasks at hand and his mind occupied with odd jobs around the ship, even ones he didn't usually bother with. And by the end of the day he was feeling much more relaxed and back to his old self.

"Oi Marco!" Thatch shouted, running over with something clutched in his arms. "Look what I found!"

Now, usually Marco would be fooled by curiosity, but Thatch and he had been too close for too long not to expect what was coming. 'Haki is such a useful tool' he thought as a big gooey mess of... something flung past his head, and a now pouting Thatch on the end of that shot, whining about cheating. Some of the crew which happened to be passing by laughed openly at Thatches whining, and Marco managed to crack a last grin and a few chuckles. Thatch was such an idiot, but that's what makes him so special, he had that rare ability to cheer anyone up, just like Rikku-

No, he shouldn't go off on one right now, he needed to make sure his crew was all sorted and things were moving smoothly. He stood, ready to occupy himself with more work, when a doctor passed by him, coming out of the door which led to the mess hall. He was carrying a tray with a big lid over the top, and he stopped in front of Marco, who remembered him being in the room with Rikku.

"Good evening Marco." Greeting the blonde man he held the tray out. "Would you be able to take this to Rikku? I would do it but I just have so much work to do." Somehow Marco doubted that, but never the less he quickly agreed and took the tray. Telling himself that the amused gleam in the doctor's eyes was his imagination, he proceeded to go see Rikku.

END

**PLEASE MESSAGE ME SOME IDEAS! Seriously guys I need some inspiration, that's part of the reason it's taken me so long to write this. I've been writing bits whenever I have an idea, but it's so difficult! So please help me out!**


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